TUCSON, ARIZ. (KGUN) — The University of Arizona sent out a safety survey for students and faculty to respond to in Spring of 2024. Those results recently came out, revealing:
- Most are concerned with not having enough lighting and unfamiliar people around.
- Those with safety concerns said parking garages and busy intersections at the edge of campus, specifically at night.
- Nearly 3/4 say a top priority should be spreading Sexual Assault (SA) Awareness and Prevention Programming.
- Majority responded that they would support physical security upgrades around the campus, such as security cameras, restricted access to buildings, etc.
Tatum Hickey is completing her first year at the U of A and explains she already has a plan if she has to walk at night:
“If I am going out at night I tend to walk in on the campus, not outside the campus. I feel like I put myself in a better situation if I'm walking on campus.”
Chief Safety Officer Steve Patterson and Director of Counseling and Psych Services Aaron Barnes spoke at a press conference Friday about the results.
“I think you look at that heat map that was done and the first thing everybody looks at is the garages," Patterson said. "Do we need to look at adding additional cameras to the garages? Yes, and we are in fact doing that. We are looking at where the best places to put the cameras within garages are," Patterson said. The heat map on page 8 of the survey shows locations where people feel the least safe.
“I think it’s really important to stay grounded in the reality of how this generation has grown up thinking about the world and to listen to what they have to say about the solutions to that," Barnes explained.
Patterson also said that he has conducted safety walks around campus. He said last semester, they were done with students that lived in dorms. He says they're necessary to "get a better idea as to where the concerns are for the students."
On Monday, U of A officials warned students about two men who police say are trying to lure women into their cars.
"We started having conversations, probably about a year ago, with all of the members of Office of Public Safety (OPS) and our partners to discuss doing a campus survey on safety. We started the OPS a little over a year ago and started working a little less than two years ago here based off of the events that occurred in October of 2022." Patterson is referring to when Dr. Thomas Meixner, 52-year-old hydrology professor, was killed on Wednesday, Oct. 5 on the University of Arizona campus in 2022.
“It’s about showing up for our students in ways that we haven’t thought about before," Barnes said.
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Athena Kehoe is a multimedia journalist and producer at KGUN 9. Four years ago, Athena moved to Arizona and has not looked back at the Midwest since. She is a very avid basketball and football fan, so you might hear her getting into the games at local Tucson sports hangouts. She is eager to share stories among the Tucson community and you can reach her at athena.kehoe@kgun9.com or by connecting on X/Twitter or LinkedIn.
